


a handsome price

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Abduction, F/M, Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-05-28 12:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19393945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: Kasius realises a little too late that he made some very wrong assumptions about the beautiful stranger he meets at a feast.Sinara, meanwhile, finds herself with far more than the ransom she bargained for on abducting the prince.





	1. Chapter 1

Kasius surveyed the room, trying not to show his boredom. He was usually rather partial to extravagance, but after a fortnight of feasts, it was nothing but tedious anymore. 

The most beautiful dresses, the finest dishes, it all started to fade once you were bombarded with it.

That Father had decided to try to find Faulnak a foreign wife to make some powerful allies was all well and good. He did not see why he had to be in constant attendance, though.

Well, of course he was aware of why he had that questionable honour: Should there be a useful alliance that wasn’t quite useful enough to warrant a betrothal to the heir apparent, there was always the spare son to be offered.

He did not particularly enjoy the prospect. One of the few perks of being the younger brother was that there were less expectations placed on his shoulders, but there were still far more than he cared for, especially with such limited rewards. No throne to inherit, no land to rule, only obligations and demands.

He truly resented being second born. Yet with everyone busy fawning upon his brother and father that left Kasius free to do as he pleased - for the moment, at least.

He caught the eye of a young woman across the room. She had been appearing in his vicinity again and again for the last three days, all coy smiles and lingering looks. Again, she smiled, sipping her drink without taking her eyes off him. Kasius decided he’d had enough of the game and crossed over to her.

Her clothes and jewelry said lower nobility, but the scars on her face belied this. Someone who came from money would have had better means of treating and hiding whatever injury had left them. They did not detract from her beauty, however, nor did he think most people would take note. Not if they weren’t specifically searching for someone who didn’t quite belong, the way he did.

His father had become increasingly paranoid lately, seeing schemes and plots in all things. For his peace of mind, they had put guards among the guests. Kasius had made a game of trying to find which of the guests were not guests at all. Had that not been the case, he thought her scars wouldn’t have stood out to him the way they did. Or perhaps he was just looking at her more closely than really appropriate. He was a prince, she no one of name.

But his father had brought this on himself by making guards dress as nobles. He could not be faulted for mistaking her for a guest.

“Good evening,”he said when he’d made it over to her.

She inclined her head in greeting.“Your Highness.”

“Please, call me Kasius,”he replied, giving her his most winning smile.“There’s no need for such formalities.”

“There’s not?” Her smile was teasing. She looked around in mock-confusion.“And here I thought we were at a formal event.”

“So it would seem.” He liked this woman already.“In that case, I should probably ask you to dance, no?”

She set her glass aside on the tray of a passing waiter.“I suppose you probably should.”

He offered her his hand.”May I have this dance?”

She nodded, placing her hand in his and allowing him to lead her to the dance floor. Once there, she rested the other hand on his shoulder. He brought his own up to her hip, a smile curving his lip. Mayhaps these feasts weren’t so bad afterall.

“I did not catch your name,”he remarked as they started to dance.

She only smiled that smile of hers again.“I did not give it, Kasius.”

He rather liked the way his name sounded from her lips. He’d rather like to taste them.“Will you now?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters,”he said.“What else would I call you?”

“Anything you please,”she purred, looking up at him from beneath her long lashes. There was a glint in her eyes that didn’t match the demure reply. She was playing, was mocking him. Somehow, he liked it. One could get sick of grovelling so easily.

He spun her into a turn to give himself a moment to make sure his voice wasn’t affected by his suddenly very dry mouth. If she noticed that, or him bringing her in closer with the turn, she did not mention it. Her smirk suggested she very well had noticed.

“I could think of a few things,”Kasius said. And dear god, he really could.“But I’d much prefer your name.”

She considered this for a moment, head tilted to the side and not breaking eye contact.“Sinara it is, then.”

“Sinara,”Kasius repeated.“A lovely name. It suits you.”

“Thank you,”she said.

Her gaze dipped to his lips for a moment and he wondered just how closely her thoughts might match his.

Her hand slid from his shoulder to the nape of his neck, fingers brushing against his skin playfully.“I’ve been hoping you’d come talk to me.”

The words sounded almost obscene in their innocence, half a promise in the way she bit her lower lip when she’d said them. Kasius swallowed hard.“I can return that sentiment, my dear.”

The song was ebbing into a slower one. He pulled her a little closer still.

“We should get out of here,”Sinara said.

“Oh?” Kasius couldn’t say he wasn’t delighted at the suggestion. But he couldn’t help but tease,“Am I that bad of a dancer?”

“Utterly unbearable,”she gave back.“And you’ve made me wait for days already. So, shall we?”

“Yes.” He’d probably answered a little too fast. He couldn’t bring himself to be embarrassed, not when she was still smiling at him.

Her hand was resting on his arm, he could feel the warmth of her through the fabric of his dress shirt.

“Another drink?”she suggested, already taking a glass of a passing waiter’s tray, handing it to him as she took another for herself.

They stepped out onto the terrace; she led him away from prying eyes and towards the staircase into the gardens. He raised his glass in toasting, taking a sip.

Something changed about her smile.

He couldn’t figure out quite what it was. It seemed sharper, somehow. Mayhaps it was a simple trick of the light, shadows falling on her face now that they were out in the gardens. Surely he had only imagined things. Her hand was still comfortably nestled in the crook of his arm, after all. She was leading him further and further from the castle, until its light barely touched them anymore.

The night air was more stifling than it had any right to be. He loosened his collar but it brought no relief. His head was spinning.

“Are you feeling quite alright?”Sinara asked. Her tone was colder than it had been. There was something that might have been amusement in her eyes.

“I don’t think I -”

He didn’t manage to finish the sentence before everything turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

When he came to, he did not know where he was. He was on a bed, though not an especially comfortable one, and the room was lit with shabby, too bright tubes. Wherever he was, it was not the castle.

“About time.”

He could not place the voice right away either. He blinked against the blinding light until his eyes got used to it, and then he realised who had spoken.”Sinara?”

She was looking at him completely without concern, as if him keeling over had not come as a surprise.

He didn’t want to believe it yet. Mayhaps he had drank too much, though he did not think so. His head hurt something awful.

“Sit up already,”Sinara said.“You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Her voice had a distinct Nuxian lilt, now that she was no longer putting on an act, Kasius noted.

Slowly, he made it into a seated position, one hand against the wall to steady himself. “In front of whom, exactly?”

“Yourself, for one.” Sinara’s demeanor was decidedly less friendly than it had been during the ball, her arms crossed, finger tapping an impatient rhythm on her sleeve. 

Kasius sighed. There really was no more denying it.“You’re not a guard.”

“A guard?” She frowned at him.“I never said I was a guard.”

“No,”he said.“Of course not. But you were quite clearly not a guest.”

“Quite clearly?”she echoed, sounding almost offended.

He shrugged.“Well, yes. The clothing didn’t fit with the scars. No nobility has scars that visible. Now, a guard posing as a guest very well might.”

“You thought I was a guard.” She shook her head, a slight quirk to the corner of her mouth.“I suppose that makes you smarter than I gave you credit for.”

Kasius was tempted to huff and take umbrage at that, but reminded himself he was at her mercy just in time.“Thank you?”

“You still followed a stranger into the night like a complete moron,”Sinara said.“So my impression hasn’t terribly improved.”

“Fair enough,”Kasius said, testing the waters by giving her a smile to go with the words.

She rolled her eyes but otherwise didn’t react.

That confirmed his suspicions that he was not in danger, or at least not in immediate danger. He let his gaze drag down her body and back up again slowly; she’d discarded her jewelry and swapped her heels for flats, but the red satin still clung to her enticingly.

“In my defense,”Kasius said as he met her eyes again. Her cheeks were a little flushed and her scowl had deepened again. He winked at her.“I was under the assumption I had some very good reasons to let you take me away from prying eyes.”

“Moron,”Sinara repeated, and stormed from the room.

Kasius chuckled, getting to his feet to take a look around his prison.

It was rather bleak, just a bed, a dresser and a small desk with a chair.

The simple clothes - four identical black shirts, two trousers, socks and underwear - in the dresser were freshly laundered, however, and so were the towels set out in the cramped wetroom attached to the room.

It wasn't sparse to make him uncomfortable, it would seem. His captors simply didn't come from money, the rest of the facility probably in a similar state.

No rival faction looking for intel, then.

That was a relief. He was pretty skeptical about his own ability to hold up under torture, not to mention that he might lack vital information because his father didn't even tell Faulnak or his own military adviser all his decisions.

He crouched down, palm against the floor, and waited. There was a faint vibration under his fingers. A ship, apparently, and still moving.

Most likely vagabonds angling for the ransom of their lifetime. He wondered if they'd kill him quickly once his father refused to pay up.

Pushing that line of thought firmly down, Kasius searched for further details.

There wasn't more to discover apart from a camera over the door frame. He stepped forward and looked up at it, waiting.

He couldn't have said how long he truly stood there but his feet were aching when the door was eventually opened.

"What?"the woman on the other side demanded, clearly irritated.

Kasius had been hoping for Sinara. He politely smiled at this woman anyway."I was wondering if I might perhaps get some books to pass the time?"

She stared at him for a few seconds then slammed the door in his face.

With a heavy sigh, Kasius settled on the bed and resigned himself to being alone with his thoughts. Never pleasant, that.

The man who brought him his dinner - broth, a thick slice of bread, some fruit - also brought him something far better.

"Be careful with those,"he warned as he set down the two books on the desk."The captain won't be happy with you if you ruin them."

"Thank you,"Kasius said quickly, the man already turning back to the door. He started asking his questions anyway."Where am I being taken? Is it a ransom you're after? Will -"

"The captain will let you know what you need to know when you need to know it,"he replied, not unkindly. And then he left Kasius alone again.

Kasius devoured the modest meal then turned his attention to the books. They were both rather slim, one a collection of short stories, the other a biography on a queen the common people had loved while the aristocracy had thought her too close to those very people.

Page corners were folded down and passages marked, sometimes there were even comments scribbled into the margins; clearly the captain was free to ruin the books.

Once he got to reading, Kasius had to admit the markings did not ruin his enjoyment of the books in the least. The comments were funny and insightful, though some he didn't totally understand - they'd been jotted down for the owner of these books, not caring to explain themselves.

He read both books front to back, and then again when he had finished.

The next night's dinner came with new books, as did every single dinner thereafter.

Different people brought them, all with two things in common: They did not answer Kasius' questions and they were not Sinara.

On his seventh day in captivity, a guard arrived earlier than normal.

There was no books and no tray of food.

He was pretty sure it was the same woman from the first night. At least she looked at him with the same contempt.

She gestured for him to follow her from the room."The captain wants to see you."


End file.
